My friend Paul Ryan, who has died aged 69 of cancer, was a writer and author who spent the last decade or so of his life as a jazz crooner, plying his trade in the clubs around Soho in London.
Switching to professional singing from journalistic work, he loved being part of the all-but-hidden world of performers that exists outside the commercial sphere of agents, recording contracts, publicists and high earnings. Immersing himself in that environment, he earned himself a reputation as one of the best storytellers in Soho.
